About A & B Cattle

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For the past 30 plus years, the Sawyers' main priority has been to produce thrifty, maintenance free cattle that can thrive under Nebraska Sandhills range conditions. The cow herd consists of 600 registered and commercial Angus cows that run just like cows on other ranch operations in the area.

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The cow herd is summered on native grass pastures and wintered on nearby crop residue stalk fields. The A & B cow herd has evolved in this Sandhills ranch environment and are bred to thrive on the forages nature provides. Calves are not creep fed and cows are not supplemented while on pasture, thus providing the most accurate data on a cow's individual performance. Any cows that do not wean a big calf consistently or are reproductively inferior are automatically culled. This rigid selection process is reflected in females that are deep-sided and broody and bulls that are thick-made, fast-gaining, and maintenance free.

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An annual bull sale markets the top 150 bulls that have survived rigorous culling and performance evaluations. No yearling bull born after April 1st is sold through the sale, but retained to be sold for fall breeding programs. Bulls from the fall breeding program are also included in the annual sale. Other marketing includes feeding and marketing our age and source identified steers, the bottom one-third of our bulls. A group of commercial bred females is also marketed annually in December. Registered Angus bulls and females are available private treaty year round.

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The goal remains in this decade as in the past…to raise moderate-framed cattle with superior early growth and performance while maintaining moderate birth weights and exceptional maternal and carcass traits.

The Sawyers

Photos by Kayla Sargent

Becky Sawyer along with son Adam, his wife Jenessa and daughter Jessica own and operate A &B Cattle and actively manage the day to day activities at the ranch.

Prior to Arlen's passing in Septemeber of 2019 he served two terms on the American Angus Association board of directors and as Chairman of the Certified Angus Beef board. He also served as president of the Nebraska Angus Association in 1998 and as president of the Area II Nebraska Cattlemen. Both he and Becky served as advisors to the Nebraska Junior Angus Association.

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Adam and his wife Jenessa work along side Becky managing all aspects of the operation. Adam enjoys ranch life immensely and has started his own herd of registered Angus females. Jenessa helps Becky in the office as well as helping Adam outside & in her spare time enjoys helping out in the community. They both stay busy chasing the 5th generation Angus enthusiast, Augustus James Sawyer, who joined the family in April of 2018.

Jessica is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and is currently living in Kearney, Nebr. where she works at Richard Young. She was an active member of the National and Nebraska Junior Angus Associations and a past national board member of the NJAA. She also has a small herd of registered Angus cows at Bassett and spends her spare time helping out at the ranch as well.